Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, creativity, fiction editors, Thoughts, Writers, writing, writing advice on September 14, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Some writing advice from agents, via Chuck Sambuchino:
What NOT to Do When Beginning Your Novel: Advice from Literary Agents
Just as important as knowing how to begin your novel is knowing what not to do.
In case you’re interested in some professional perspectives!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, creativity, inspiration, persistence, Thoughts, write anyway, Writers, writing on September 12, 2026| Leave a Comment »
“Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.” — Madeleine L’Engle
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, #WhyIWrite, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on September 9, 2026|
Why write? It’s a question writers get asked a lot. There are a lot of challenges to writing, both internal and external, and overcoming them can take persistence and focus and a good handle on what and why. So I periodically ask myself just that: why write?
Here’s one author talking about her history with writing: Patricia Cornwell, novelist: Imagination saved me
Jamie Coomarasamy speaks to Patricia Cornwell, one of the world’s best-selling crime writers, whose books have sold more than 120 million copies worldwide… Her imagination became a refuge during difficult years, shaping the stories and characters she would later create.
Ann Patchett’s The Getaway Car is another interesting look into the author’s development as a writer, but everyone’s answer is different.
My version of why tends to revolve around an essential truth: I want to be part of the worlds I’ve loved since I was a child. I want to be a book in the library of life.
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Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, creativity, curiosity, inspiration, nerds, Thoughts, Writers, writing on September 8, 2026| 1 Comment »
“Because nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff… Nerds are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-can’t-control-yourself love it. Hank, when people call people nerds, mostly what they’re saying is ‘you like stuff.’ Which is just not a good insult at all. Like, ‘you are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness’.” ― John Green
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, creativity, rethinking, Thoughts, Writers, writing on September 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Like many people, I sometimes flash back to mistakes I’ve made in writing or elsewhere. It’s annoying, how they pop up unbidden, their lessons knocking gently (or otherwise) as if I’d forgotten.
I’ve come to the conclusion that it may be easier to move on from those moments if, instead of trying to ignore them, I respond with “yes, and…” It’s a classic technique in improv comedy, of course, but it can also help mitigate the sting of past negatives by acknowledging them while also making space for the positive. Balance out the scales.
“Yes, that thing that’s been swirling around in my head for a week was kind of a silly thing to do, and remember when I also did that other thing that was awesome?”
A little trick I find useful:)
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, #GettingThingsDone, creativity, projects, reflection, rethinking, Thoughts, transformation, writing on September 3, 2026| Leave a Comment »
It’s end-of-summer, change-of-season, back-to-school time, and for me that means taking a moment for a little reflection and reassessment. I also like to use this time as an opportunity to clear the decks.
I don’t know about you, but I tend to accumulate mental notes to myself, project plans, ideas that have persisted over the course of the year. Now is a great time to cross those items off my list. Maybe an idea is so small that it seems not worth doing, but it’s been taking up space in my mind. Time to get it done. Maybe it’s so big that I’ve been avoiding it. Time to decide if it’s worth tackling or if it should be deliberately shelved in favor of other projects. Either way, I get it off my list and out of my head.
And once the decks are cleared? I can look forward to a new season and new ideas.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, Alice in Wonderland, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers on August 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »
“I could tell you my adventures—beginning from this morning,” said Alice a little timidly: “but it’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” — Lewis Carroll
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, creativity, good and evil, storytelling, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »
“I believe that there is one story in the world, and only one. . . . Humans are caught—in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too—in a net of good and evil. . . . There is no other story. A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well—or ill?” ― John Steinbeck, East of Eden
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, advice, creativity, curiosity, prognostication, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 25, 2026| Leave a Comment »
“…I guess what I’d say is that the best way to predict the future is just observe very closely the present. So it’s close observation of what’s going on in at a moment. And it’s also, the other thing is being interested in the thing you’re interested in rather than the thing everybody’s talking about… that’s good because it means that it’s gonna be fresh and different.” — Michael Lewis
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, creativity, persistence, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »
“Zero is the only amount that gives you
r bodynothing to build on.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger [strike-through added]
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